#63- Playlist of my 101 favorite songs

When I set out to accomplish this goal, I thought it would be difficult to come up with 101 favorite songs. Now maybe that thought was silly, considering that my music library has 27,675 songs.

My first pass at my music library turned up 176.

Admittedly, I probably had just thrown a few in there that I only really like and don't qualify as a "favorite."  But I was pretty sure it was going to be incredibly difficult to narrow down my list. I mean, I had to kick off 75 beloved songs!

I decided to make a separate "Favorite Musical Theatre Songs" list.  That got me down to 138.  Not bad!  Now I only had to get rid of 37 more.  I sorted it by artist to see if maybe I had too many by one artist.  My first pass had turned up:

Billy Joel (10)
Maroon 5 (7)
Anberlin (6)
Frank Sinatra (6)
Green Day (5)
Michael Buble (5)
Aerosmith (4)

And many with 3 or less. Clearly I had gone a little nuts on the Billy Joel, at least.

So, I set to trimming it down.  Then of course, as I was trimming it down I kept remembering songs I had forgotten to add to the list.  And I had this irrationally intense fear that I would forget a song or artist that I loved.  Perhaps because I identify myself with music so much, it was incredibly important to me to make a list that was truly representative of my favorites.

Due to my irrational fear of screwing up my list, I decided to let it sit for a few days then revisit the list. Immediately I started cutting songs.  I mean, could I really have "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls on the same list as "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen?  No.  So now the list was down to 84.

I trimmed and added and trimmed and added some more and I am satisfied with the final result! Here it is, with every carefully chosen song (alphabetical by title). Link to it on Spotify here.  Whew!

1. 21 Guns - Green Day
2. Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
3. Alice, Who The F**k is Alice? - Smokie
4. All You Need is Drums to Start a Dance Party - Piebald
5. And So It Goes - Billy Joel
6. Angel - Aerosmith
7. Apologize - OneRepublic
8. Awkward Game - Gabriella Cilmi
9. Back At Your Door - Maroon 5
10. B*tch - Meredith Brooks
11. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
12. Boyz in the Hood - Dynamite Hack
13. Brick House - Commodores
14. Buddy Holly - Weezer
15. Bullets in the Gun - Toby Keith
16. Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
17. Candle (Sick and Tired) - The White Tie Affair
18. Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
19. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
20. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Sufjan Stevens
21. Cotton - The Mountain Goats
22. Crazy - Aerosmith
23. Crazy - Patsy Cline
24. Crazy Love - Michael Buble
25. Cryin' - Aerosmith
26. Dismantle. Repair - Anberlin
27. Don't Speak - No Doubt
28. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
29. Don't Stop the Music - Jamie Cullum
30. Don't Worry Baby - Beach Boys
31. Dream On - Aerosmith
32. Dude (Looks Like a Lady) - Aerosmith
33. End of the World As We Know It - R.E.M.
34. Everything - Michael Buble
35. Fallin' - Alicia Keys
36. Feel Good Drag - Anberlin
37. Feeling Good - Michael Buble
38. Fields of Athenry - Dropkick Murphys
39. Fields of Gold - Sting & The Police
40. Follow Me - Uncle Kracker
41. Glasgow Love Theme - Craig Armstrong
42. Godspeed - Aerosmith
43. Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
44. Heart of Gold - Neil Young
45. Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
46. Hotel California - The Eagles
47. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
48. I'm Shipping Up To Boston - Dropkick Murphys
49. I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
50. I Like It, I Love It - Tim McGraw
51. I Won't - Colbie Caillat
52. If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
53. If I Ever Leave This World Alive - Flogging Molly
54. Inevitable - Anberlin
55. Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
56. The Kids Aren't Alright - The Offspring
57. The Lady Is A Tramp - Frank Sinatra
58. The Longest Time - Billy Joel
59. Love in an Elevator - Aerosmith
60. Love You Till The End - The Pogues
61. The Luckiest - Ben Folds
62. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat
63. Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel) - Billy Joel
64. Make You Feel My Love - Adele
65. Many The Miles - Sara Bareilles
66. Misery - Maroon 5
67. More of You - MoZella
68. New Soul - Yael Naim
69. The One I Love - David Gray
70. The Only Exception - Paramore
71. Only The Good Die Young - Billy Joel
72. Orange Blossom Special - Scythian
73. Paperthin Hymn - Anberlin
74. Rain Night in SoHo - Bogside Rogues
75. Rebels of the Sacred Heart - Flogging Molly
76. Secret - Maroon 5
77. Secrets - OneRepublic
78. Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
79. She - Green Day
80. She's Got a Way - Billy Joel
81. SING - My Chemical Romance
82. Smile - Uncle Kracker
83. So Contagious - Acceptance
84. Somebody to Love - Queen
85. Stuck Like Glue - Sugarland
86. Stutter - Maroon 5
87. Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
88. Take Me (As You Found Me) - Anberlin
89. This Love - Maroon 5
90. This Year - The Mountain Goats
91. To The Wolves - Anberlin
92. Toxic - A Static Lullaby
93. Turn Me On - Norah Jones
94. Undisclosed Desires - Muse
95. Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
96. Walk This Way - Aerosmith feat. Run DMC
97. Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra
98. You and I - Ingrid Michaelson
99. You and I - Lady Gaga
100. You Belong Here - Anberlin
101. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC